herb wrote:
Word on the street now is that expansion may be on the horizon with Quebec City and southern Ontario (Markham?). Personally, I think the existing divisional system is fine. Although, if Phoenix moves to Seattle, it would make sense for Seattle and Vancouver to be in the same division, but if there is expansion and Ontario and Quebec each get another team then there would be 18 teams in the Eastern Conference and only 16 out west.

That would be 34 teams.

Where else are they expanding to?

I'm an idiot.

That should say 17 out east and 15 out west. Was thinking of the NFL for some reason and thought they were 16 and 16.

Interesting that the two "eastern" conferences (C&D) in the proposal from 2011 have 7 teams only. That would leave the window wide open for two expansion teams from Ontario and Quebec (Phoenix should be in Seattle , but that's another discussion) without having to upset the new conferences.

Any situation that results in unbalanced divisions is nonsense. If it is statistically easier for one team to make the playoffs than another, the league is often hyperbolically called "a joke" would actually a be a frigging joke.

I know that this was a main reason the previous proposal was opposed, so I hope it does not resurface. Of course, in any situation where there are 4 divisions it will be hard to avoid unfairness.

If the league wants to build in unfairness, that is when I stop watching.

Rumsfeld wrote:Does anyone really think Seattle could support an NHL team? Christ, the city is half black and they couldn't hang onto their ghettoball NBA franchise.

Yeah but you have to remember who has more money, and disposable income in Seattle. My guess would be the hockey demographic as opposed to basketball.

They have a decent minor hockey program in Seattle and the outlying cities and this would only increase with the presence of a professional franchise. Plus they've had some decent success with WHL hockey. So there is a core group of hockey fans to build off of.

I think it could work, especially with a natural I-5 rivalry with us, eventually. With the cost of tickets in Vancouver these days I can imagine Canucks fans making the trip on a regular basis.

This would all depend on management of course, if they can build a fairly successful team that gets into the playoffs and is not a continual failure I believe it would work.

Rumsfeld wrote:Does anyone really think Seattle could support an NHL team? Christ, the city is half black and they couldn't hang onto their ghettoball NBA franchise.

There were a lot of politics involved with the Sonics move to OKC, and much like the Grizzlies and Hornets before them, the NBA did not do a damn thing to help keep the team in Seattle.

I certainly don't see why a NHL team could not be succesful. At the very least, Seattle cannot possibly be worse than Phoenix. I know that's a low bar, but that's the obvious candidate for me.

I'm no pro sports market research expert, but a quick Google search shows that the Seattle metropolitan area is 15th largest in the US. Comparables are San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis, St Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Boston and Phoenix. These other places have NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL teams, and in some cases more than one team from each league.

Seattle's getting a new NBA/NHL arena. The city has said it wants an NHL team, and their is a prospective owner (Don Levin) who wants to bring a NHL team to Seattle. It's a good sports town, and the winters are shit which makes for perfect hockey watching weather.

Last edited by herb on Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Rumsfeld wrote:Does anyone really think Seattle could support an NHL team? Christ, the city is half black and they couldn't hang onto their ghettoball NBA franchise.

I think it could work, especially with a natural I-5 rivalry with us, eventually. With the cost of tickets in Vancouver these days I can imagine Canucks fans making the trip on a regular basis.

herb wrote:
Seattle's getting a new NBA/NHL arena. The city has said it wants an NHL team, and their is a prospective owner (Don Levin) who wants to bring a NHL team to Seattle. It's a good sports town, and the winters are shit which makes for perfect hockey watching weather.

Yeah Seattle with a brand new arena would be a perfectly viable option to get a relocated NHL team.

With every single Canucks game in Seatown, I bet half their building will be filled with Vancouver fans lol.
Just like in Ottawa, half the building are Leafs fans ha.

Did you see the new article where the Sens basically said don't sell your tickets to Leafs fans, it's a new "rule".

The Ottawa Senators are attempting to limit the number Toronto Maple Leafs fans that attend Senators home games.

According to the Toronto Star, the Senators sent an email to its season-ticket holders offering a 20 per cent discount on additional tickets to home games against the Leafs so long as they don’t re-sell them to fans of the visiting team.

The email stated: "We are asking you to ensure that the tickets are used by Senators fans and not re-sold to the general public. Any seats being re-sold will be subject to cancellation and loss of privileges with respect to future additional ticket pre-sales."

When the Leafs visit the Senators there is usually a large contingent of Leafs supporters in the stands and during some games the crowd support seems split 50/50.